042 - Don't Panic
Eve felt her very spirit swimming inside her. It had… changed about a week ago, thanks to Earth Stand.
Her ability…
Well it was interesting enough that she had decided it needed to be kept a secret from the general population. Her close friends knew, as well as the world leaders, but otherwise… Well, she wasn’t going to comment on it. Let Sombra and the general population guess as to what it actually was.
She’d keep it a secret as long as she could so potential enemies wouldn’t know what hit them.
She tried not to think about it, focusing her attention back to reality. She was sitting in her castle library, taking a moment to herself and her books. In her magic she held a newer book – or, more accurately, new e-book – called the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Multiverse. It advertised itself as the best all-in-one guidebook for the entire cosmos you could ever find, though clearly it only dealt with the worlds Equis Vitis and its allies had uncovered. A lot of the stuff she was reading wasn’t new information to her, but occasionally she’d find interesting tidbits of information. For instance, she hadn’t known about the halos of Lai, or the luxurious hotels that Equis Cosmic was apparently ‘known for’.
Then there was the article on ‘how to alter your dimensional device’ that she was considering writing the editor about. Sure, there were warnings all over the piece, but the mere fact that it existed meant people were going to try stupid things and might end up launching themselves into a sun or something. Or getting past a blacklisted world, which could be even worse. They did not need Nautica breaching. Ever.
They were lucky they had placed orbital scanners around the ocean planet – they had caught Brutalight’s group trying to leave via rocket. They did not make it far before being launched back into the sea from which they came.
Eve wondered if there was an article on Nautica in the Guide. Sure enough, there it was – a small one that was clearly aware it was reporting mostly based off rumor and speculation. It knew that Nautica was an ocean world where highly dangerous prisoners were dumped, and that was about all the correct information it had. For some reason the Guide was convinced a blue headed supervillain was locked up there. Eve had seen the prisoner register herself numerous times; there was no such person.
She searched for some more articles. Tips on how to survive in unexplored universes, tips on how to discover your own universes, tips on making tips… The Guide was pretty extensive. It even had articles on the world leaders of most worlds.
It finally occurred to Eve to look herself up. Sure enough, she was there, and it was one of the larger articles to boot. It was a bit weird to read about her early life, education, and role in Equestrian History prior to the unlocking of the multiverse. It took her a few seconds to remember it wasn’t really her, and at that point she just scrolled past the whole section. She started reading again about the time the Embodiment was first contacted. The article was meticulous, describing her relation to virtually every major crisis she had been a part of, from the University, to something she didn’t remember in Gem Vein, and the whole Algernon fiasco. That last one didn’t paint her in a favorable light, but even she had to admit she screwed that one up.
After that it was just a few paragraphs about what Eve was doing now. The Charter-Princess spends most of her time working diligently to further harmony and friendship in the multiverse, seeking the peace of all sides. She devotes almost every waking hour of her life to this, and has not taken an official vacation since the Aid of the Binary World was completed.
“Oh,” Eve said to herself, ears drooping. Had she really never taken a break? Ever since… That… She had thrown herself into her work and… And done nothing much for herself. Back then, it had seemed reasonable, but now? Here she was, hiding in her library just to clear her head.
She needed to fix that. Go out with the girls-
Oh, wait, today was ‘Stand’ day. Jotaro would be testing them. Eve supposed she could go watch, but that didn’t seem like what she wanted right now. Applejack wouldn’t be torn from her family given how it was growing… Rainbow Dash was at Stand day as well… Corona? Eve supposed she could go to Lai… But the thought didn’t call out to her.
It was then a lightbulb went off in her head.
She probably wasn’t the only one who needed a vacation.
She tucked the Guide under her wing and lit her horn, teleporting herself long-distance to the throne room of Canterlot. After checking a moment to see that nopony was currently talking to the Princesses, Eve grinned. “Celestia. Luna. Guess what?”
Luna yawned. “What, Evening Sparkle?”
“We’re going on a vacation.”
Celestia blinked. “We? Eve, I’m all for you taking a vacation – about time, really – but you’re alone here.”
Eve smirked. “You two are coming with me. It’s time for some princess bonding.”
Luna blinked. “Evening, we are two busy ponies-“
“And so am I, but I’m sure I can get us out. Or, well, Spike can rearrange the schedule, but you know.”
“Eve, the Sun and the Moon-“
“There are other Celestias and Lunas who will be willing to do that,” Eve declared. “I think we all need a break. Plus, we never hang out, despite all the time we spend with each other. We don’t always have to be the high-and-mighty rulers of Equestria.” She smiled. “Pleeeeease?”
Celestia thought about it for a few seconds. “Oh, all right, I can leave things unattended for a while. I haven’t stretched my legs outside these castle walls in so long.”
“Sister!” Luna declared. “We cannot both le-“
“Luna, you and I both know you spend all your time on the Feldspar exploring your night. We can both leave just fine. And I bet you want to get out of that stuffy spaceship interior from time to time.”
Luna blinked. “This much is true.”
“And Eve is right, we do know ponies who can replace us for a short time, even if just for raising the Sun and Moon.” Celestia turned to Eve. “We accept. Where did you plan on going?”
“Well, first there are these excellent locales on Equis Cosmic that are apparently to die for, and after that… oh I guess we’ll bounce around wherever we want.”
“Locales,” Luna said, raising an eyebrow. “Renee must be talking your ear off about the wedding.”
“While true, my use of the word has nothing to do with that. It was just appropriate.”
“The book you have under your wing uses it,” Celestia observed.
“Er… yes!”
“This isn’t going to be a ‘by the book’ thing, is it Eve?”
“No,” Eve said with complete certainty. “It’s just what gave me the idea, after reading the article about myself. I apparently work way too hard.”
“I could have told you that,” Celestia said.
“Look who’s talking,” Luna chided.
Celestia rolled her eyes. “I suppose that is why Eve’s here. Let’s let everypony know we’re going – and then get out before they yell at us not to leave.”
Eve nodded. “That better be all the work we do.”
Luna huffed. “One can hope.”
~~~
Jotaro Kujo was not a man for speeches – that was more the old man’s department, or Josuke, or, hell, almost anyone else at Joestar Central. But Joseph was not available at the moment – something about learning to fly a spaceship – and Jotaro was the de-facto second in command of the whole operation. Not to mention the fact that this day was essentially his idea, and it was up to him to judge everyone here.
A young girl tugged on his pant leg. “Daddy? They’re waiting for you.” She was about twelve (though she would be the first to tell you she was pretty much thirteen) and had green hair done up in an odd style that had a ponytail and two nubs on the top of her head that would have resembled cat ears had they been pointy rather than round. “Come on, go and do something cool! Star Platinum them into amazement!”
A small smile crawled up Jotaro’s features. “Most of them can’t see Star Platinum, Jolyne.”
“Well then just strike a pose! You’re good at that! Just… Go be awesome!”
Jotaro shook his head. “Yare yare daze…” He took his daughter’s advice though, opting to have Star Platinum shove the double doors of Joestar Central open. He could see his own Stand, which took the form of a muscular man of similar stature to Jotaro himself, except with blue and pink skin and metallic balls on the ends of its fists.
Jotaro walked out with his hands in his pockets and his posture as tall as he could manage. He took a moment to observe the people who had been selected standing outside. There were only twelve admitted today, though he could see they had brought their friends along to watch. He cleared his throat. “All participants, line up in the grass over there. Two lines of six. Rest of you, just stay back, this will get explosive quickly.”
He noticed rather quickly that thirteen people were actually lining up. He glared at Vriska. “Vriska, you’re not a participant.”
“Oh, just give me a chance Jotaro, c’mon.”
“No,” Jotaro deadpanned.
“No! No! No!” Jolyne echoed from behind him, giggling.
Jotaro folded his arms. “Go back to the rest of your team that isn’t participating.”
“Fiiiine,” Vriska muttered, walking away like she was some eight year old who hadn’t gotten dessert. She joined up with Nova and Pinkie, who were hanging around near the back. Pinkie had already produced a commentary stand, complete with functioning microphones. Jotaro shrugged – he didn’t mind if the pink pony commentated. It’d be good to teach the participants to deal with distraction.
Jotaro examined the remaining twelve. There were some ponies – Flutterfree, Renee, Rainbow Dash, Trixie, the metal-winged Rainbow Dash they had tied up a few weeks ago, and the alicorn Jade from Equis Cosmic. There were a handful of humans as well: O’Neill, Daniel, Tempest, and the Earth Vitis Applejack. On the more ‘alien’ side were Emerald and Thor the Asgard.
Jotaro cleared his throat. “You are here today to determine if you are worthy to receive a Stand power. You are all here because you were selected – your powers aren’t as extensive as some of your colleagues, and it has been suggested that the way to catch up to them is to gain something new. This may be true, but I want you to forget all that. You are here today to prove not your need, but your ability. You must have a fighting spirit, honor, devotion, and determination for me to decide you are ready. I do not know how many, if any, of you will pass.”
“Oh, I think you’ll be surprised,” Rainbow Dash said, smirking.
Cocky, Jotaro thought. Already lost a point. He reached into his coat and produced a long, ornate arrow made of a mysterious metal. “This is a Stand Arrow. You are beyond lucky that Evening encouraged us to engage in Stand research when she first arrived, because the only way to be given a Stand prior to a few months ago was to get shot with this thing. It was extremely painful and had a high chance of just killing you. Not just because of the wound, but because the metal that bestows a Stand is an alien virus that devours your biology from the inside out if your genetics aren’t immune. The Speedwagon Foundation has worked with us to create a pill that will inject this virus into your system, but also cure it just after you have been given a Stand.” He glanced at Emerald, uncertain exactly how they were going to give her a Stand given her non-biological nature, but he knew Stands could be affixed to objects, so there had to be some way to do it. Probably with magic.
“In order to get that pill, I will have to examine how you react when faced with a strong opponent. So you all will fight one at a time so I can judge your styles, and what it means about you.”
“We’re all going to fight you?” Renee asked, her hoof in Daniel’s hand.
“No, You’re fighting Josuke,” Jotaro said, stepping aside, Jolyne scurrying behind him. Behind the two of them was a young man with the weirdest Elvis-esque hairdo of all time. It looked like Elvis had flattened his hair slightly and put a grid pattern on top of it. “Hello alien beings!” he chuckled as he said this.
“I am Josuke Higashikata. I’m looking forward to punching all your faces in.”
“Question,” O’Neill said. “Why are we fighting reject Elvis?”
Josuke’s expression darkened. “…Did you just mock my hair?”
O’Neill raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
Jotaro put a hand on Josuke’s shoulder. “Rein yourself in for fifteen seconds, Josuke. We-“
Josuke clearly didn’t listen to Jotaro. He rushed toward O’Neill, fist flying. Jotaro grabbed Josuke’s head with Star Platinum, flattening the younger man into the ground. “Ahem. O’Neill, you will be Josuke’s first opponent, but I must explain the rules first.”
Josuke summoned his own Stand – a humanoid pink and gray Stand with a more metallic appearance than Star Platinum – and tried to punch the pink-blue Stand away. He had little success with this maneuver, seeing as Josuke couldn’t see where he was punching.
Jolyne bounced up and down. “Oh! Oh! I know the rules! Can I tell them please daddy?”
Jotaro nodded, using Star Platinum’s other hand to pin Josuke’s Stand. Jotaro himself hadn’t even moved a muscle.
Jolyne climbed up a small rock. “All right! The rules are very simple – use only non-lethal force! Josuke’s Stand, Crazy Diamond, may be able to heal almost all wounds, but he cannot heal his own. This means that Josuke is allowed to punch you as hard as he wants, but you can’t, so just deal with it. The benefit you have is that Josuke doesn’t know what you can do, but you know what he can! Watch out for Crazy Diamond’s fists if you have a way to detect Stands! Otherwise… Well, just fight as long as you can, but expect to lose!”
“How do we know when we’ve lost?” Flutterfree asked.
“You’ll know,” Jolyne giggled, getting off the rock and moving to stand next to her father. “Can I use Stone Free?” she asked.
“I’d like to see a fair fight,” Jotaro said, releasing Josuke. “So no. I know you’re excited that you’re finally able to summon it, but now is not the time.” Ever since Jotaro had told his family about Stands, Jolyne knew she could get one because of the rule of heredity. She’d only activated it recently.
“Aw…” Jolyne muttered.
The moment Josuke was released, he flew at O’Neill, roaring. “YOU DO NOT INSULT MY HAIR!”
“Are you still on that?” O’Neill said, shaking his head. He produced a zat gun and fired at Josuke, not in the least surprised to find some invisible force protecting the young man. Jotaro could clearly see Crazy Diamond deflecting the bolt of blue electricity. Jotaro was impressed when O’Neill used the deflection of the bolt to his advantage, using it to determine where the invisible Stand was. O’Neill performed a roll under Crazy Diamond’s fist and shot another bolt at Josuke from the side. Crazy Diamond was not fast enough to block this bolt, and Josuke’s body was stunned.
“A GREAT PLOY BY O’NEILL!” Pinkie announced. “BUT THE FIGHT ISN’T OVER YET FOLKS! JOSUKE ISN’T DOWN!”
O’Neill raised an eyebrow. “Most people fall over after one of those.”
Josuke grunted through the stun of the zat gun. “I’m not most people. I am-“
O’Neill shot him again before he could even get started on his monologue.
“Josuke!” Jotaro shouted. “Remember, other universes interrupt us! Remember to stop discussing your moves!”
Josuke barely heard Jotaro – with two shots, he was falling down. He knew he probably should have been killed by that shot, but he was just too determined for that. As he fell, he used what little awareness remained in him to control a single punch from Crazy Diamond. The spirit’s fist went right through O’Neill’s stomach, shattering his spine and coming out the other side. O’Neill gagged for a moment – but then the pain was over, because Crazy Diamond repaired the damage he had just caused with a golden-yellow glow.
Then Josuke hit the ground, grunting.
“Josuke wins!” Jolyne declared. “Lethal hit to the stomach!”
O’Neill touched his stomach, eyebrow raised. “Huh, not bad. I wasn’t expecting Elvis-boy to have so much gumption in him.”
“Jack, seriously, stop insulting his hair,” Daniel said.
“What? He’s down. He can’t hear me.”
“He’s not down,” Thor informed him.
Josuke was in fact sitting up – and he looked livid. “WHAT THE HELL IS WITH YOU AND MY HAIR!?”
“It-” O’Neill did not get to finish, because Crazy Diamond punched him across the face, knocking him into the dirt.
“Not healing that one,” Josuke muttered. “Have a sore jaw the rest of the day, pig.”
Flutterfree flew over to him. “You okay?”
“Just… Fine,” O’Neill grunted.
“For the record, I think the hair is fabulous,” Renee announced.
“Finally, someone with good sense,” Josuke said.
“I’m thinking of the best suit to I could design to go with it…”
Josuke lit up. “We’re going to talk business after this is over, Renee.”
“I’m next!” Rainbow Dash declared, rushing Josuke with a burst of speed. Crazy Diamond punched her out of the air with ease. “Ow…”
“AND RAINBOW DASH IS DOWN BEFORE THE FIGHT EVEN BEGINS!” Pinkie declared. “WHAT A MATCH!”
That’s what she gets for being cocky, Jotaro thought.
“Two down, ten to go!” Jolyne cheered. “Goooooo Grunkle Josuke!”
Flutterfree raised an eyebrow as she helped O’Neill back to his feat. “Grunkle?”
“He’s technically my grandma’s half-brother!” Jolyne explained. “The Joestar family is… bizarre.”
Jotaro adjusted his hat. “Yare yare daze… Next?”
~~~
Eve had to admit, the Guide was right about Equis Cosmic’s luxurious hotels. And because alicorns, while still rare, weren’t unheard of in Equis Cosmic, there were services designed especially for the three of them. Currently it was the perfect massage treatment by what Eve assumed were descendants of Aloe and Lotus, two of the best spa ponies Eve had ever known.
The three princesses were currently laying on their stomachs, wings open but facing downward, relaxed. It felt good to get a massage by somepony who understood the differing physiology in the larger alicorn wings.
She let out a sign of contentment.
“Somepony needed to release her stress,” Celestia commented.
Eve let out a relaxed chuckle. “Yeah… I’ve had so, so much stress over these past few years… So much I think I forgot what not being stressed feels like. This… This is good.”
Luna made a “mhm” noise but otherwise didn’t contribute to the conversation.
“I can’t believe I almost never go offworld… “ Celestia said. “There’s so much wonder to be seen out here.”
“You’re busy running Equestria,” Eve said.
“But it’s like you and not taking a break. I could have made time to just explore for a bit, like I would have in my younger days, but I didn’t. I only went when I was called – usually by you.”
Eve smirked. “Still feels weird, me calling you somewhere. You’re still the princess.”
“Hey,” Luna grunted with only the smallest amount of effort. “I’m a princess.”
Eve nodded. “Yes Luna, you are, sorry. Not what I meant though, Celestia’s always been my teacher – still is, in many ways.”
“Eve, you’ve long since become my equal – surpassed me, in many ways,” Celestia said.
“Me? Surpass? Ahah – no. I’m nowhere near as cool-headed as you, nowhere near as serene, nowhere near as wise, nowhere-“
“Sh sh sh… Eve, relax. It’s okay to admit your success. You’ve done more in under a decade than I’ve done in a thousand years. Just because I was your teacher doesn’t mean you can’t surpass me. And it doesn’t mean that I can’t admit that.”
Eve blinked. “It just doesn’t process, Celestia. I get what you’re saying, and it makes sense, but internally I know I haven’t accepted it yet.”
Celestia chuckled. “Part of being a pony – or human, or anything. Our internal workings are often paradoxical. We can know one thing but feel something very different. It’s a very strong dichotomy within ourselves, and it’s something we spend our lifetimes resolving. It may be a pain, but it makes life interesting.”
“I assume you’re aware of the three-fold theory of pony nature?”
“Yes. The humans also have a similar one.”
“Mhm. The ‘person’ is split up into three distinct ‘natures’. There’s the reason, then there’s emotion, then there’s ‘desire’ or physical drive. These three natures are constantly in conflict with each other, driving the paradox you described. But when they are united, they provide peace. You could describe trying to resolve our internal paradoxes like that, right?”
Celestia smirked. “You could do that. It even fits well. You could also take it further. Some individuals have stronger reasonings, or more of a handle on their emotions, and some are more gifted with the physical nature of themselves. In order to achieve peace in the naturally unbalanced state, people need to work together, to find a medium. You, Eve, are an example of that kind of peace, believe it or not.”
“I know – a purely logic driven pony changed to understand emotions on a more fundamental level, to the extent of being the Princess of Friendship. I’m not strong in the ‘physical’ nature though. I mean, I don’t even have some drives.”
“Nothing to be ashamed of, it just makes you different. Though it does explain why you’ve never gotten yourself a stallion.”
Eve raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like you have one either.”
“Where do you think Blueblood came from, Eve? There was a royal family, long ago.”
“Curious. So are you well-balanced in all three natures then?”
Celestia smiled. “I am nowhere near as smart as you are, Evening.”
“Smarts doesn’t have much to do with it – it’s a separate gift. Philosophically speaking, the mental nature is all based in reason. You’re really good at making quick, on-the-point decisions.”
“Admittedly I base that more on my empathy than reason, but you do have a point. It’s like we’re opposite sides of the same coin, in a way. I’m naturally emotional but learned reason, and you’re naturally gifted in the mind and learned friendship.”
“And meanwhile here I stand, in the middle, with a very physical desire to not talk brain-thumping philosophy anymore,” Luna grunted. “You two can’t possibly consider this relaxing.”
Eve and Celestia chuckled. “We kinda do,” Eve said. “Well, probably more me than Celestia, but you know.”
“The point is that your thoughts are alien to mine,” Luna declared. “How about we try… Complete silence for a while.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Celestia agreed.
“Silence!?” Eve blurted. “How ca-“
“Shhhhh…” Luna and Celestia called to her.
“But-“
“Eve, enjoy the feeling of being in your own skin and doing nothing,” Celestia declared. “It’s a good skill to have.”
Eve took in a deep breath and released it, allowing herself to drop into the realms of not thinking. She allowed the massage to work its way into her mind, turning the complex calculations she normally ran into putty. Time began to dissolve as she lost herself in the calmness…
An alarm started blaring, accompanied with red lights, ruining the whole experience.
Luna sighed. “There’s a crisis we need to help deal with, isn’t there?”
Celestia stood up form the massage platform. “It appears so…”
Luna grunted, lifting herself up as well. “Let’s deal with it quickly.”
Eve rubbed her forehead – this was just great. She was never going to catch a break.
~~~
The Rainbow Dash with the metal wing had her artificial limb shatter into a million pieces by an invisible force. “Ponyfeathers!” she blurted – she had been sure Crazy Diamond was on her other side, but she had guessed wrong. She fell to the ground and rolled over several times until she came to a rest at the wall of Joestar Central. Crazy Diamond repaired her wing a second later.
Josuke cracked his knuckles. “That was a nice trick, keeping your earth pony part of you hidden until the end. A good trump card. Well, that’s eleven down-“
“TEN!” Pinkie corrected from her megaphone stand. “JADE BEAT YOU FAIR AND SQUARE.”
“Alicorn magic cheats,” Josuke muttered. “I would have won if I knew she could just put me to sleep.”
“I doubt it,” Jolyne called. “I didn’t see a way to dodge it!”
“Right… Right… Who’s the last one?”
Fluterfree walked up, bow of light in her hooves. “That would be me.” She pulled the string back, the arrow within glowing with a holy light. “I really don’t know what this will do to your Stand if you hit it, so…” She thought for a moment, and set the bow on the ground. “…I guess I won’t use it.”
Renee gasped. “But Flutterfree! That’s your only weapon!”
Flutterfree took a breath. “I’ll just try to do my best.” She spread her wings and took a deep breath. “Ready, Josuke.”
Josuke looked at her with uncertainty. She could tell he summoned Crazy Diamond, but she had no idea where. Flutterfree decided to fly into the air, to gain some mobility.
“FLUTTERFREE TAKES TO THE SKIES! WHAT IS HER PLOY?”
O’Neill clenched his jaw. “She doesn’t have one,” he muttered.
Flutterfree decided it was best to just keep moving. When Crazy Diamond did hit her, it wasn't head on – it was on one of her back legs. This threw her into a tailspin dive. She strained with all her might to fly toward Josuke. Her aim was true – but the invisible Stand stopped her short, slamming her into the ground.
She stood up, spreading her wings. Blood was pouring down her face – even though she knew it would be healed in an instant whenever the fight ended, she still felt the panic rising within her. Her breathing increased rapidly – but she forced herself to calm. I have to try harder. I need to prove myself.
Crazy Diamond hit her again. Flutterfree used the force to fly in a loopdeloop, ramming right into Josuke’s head.
Got him!
“IT’S A HIT FROM FLUTTERFREE!”
Josuke peeled her off his face as if she was a bug. “Uh…”
Flutterfree blushed. “I guess that didn’t go so well huh?”
“Nope.”
“…Just end it. I’m not going to punch you in the face right now, that’d just be mean.”
Josuke healed Flutterfree back up in an instant. He set her down on the ground, expression mildly confused. He turned and walked to Jotaro without the usual fanfare.
“AND JOSUKE WINS! ELEVEN FIGHTS OUT OF TWELVE! THE MAN HAS STAMINA!”
O’Neill walked up to Flutterfree. “That was some pretty good ass-pulling.”
“I was pathetic,” Flutterfree stated matter-of-factly. “He didn’t even feel any pride in defeating me. I think he just felt sad.” She sighed. “I definitely didn’t win.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” O’Neill said. “You tried with the very limited resources you had. You didn’t even have a plan. So, yeah, you definitely failed this fight. But I don’t think your strength is in combat anyway.”
Flutterfree smiled. “Thanks, O’Neill.”
Nova walked up to Flutterfree. “...You seem happy for somepony who just got their ass handed to them on a plate.”
“Oh, O’Neill gave me a little pep talk.”
“Already?!”
Vriska laughed from nearby. “The old man is stealing your job, Nova!”
“Actually the pep-talk thing is usually Pinkie or Flutterfree’s job,” Nova called back.
Vriska shrugged, accepting a smoothie from Pinkie and drinking it obnoxiously. Nova rolled her eyes at this.
Renee and Daniel walked up to O’Neill and Flutterfree. “So, what do you think our chances are?” Daniel asked.
O’Neill laughed. “Only Jade actually won. I think Tempest and that metal-winged Rainbow Dash did pretty well – and Emerald.”
“You almost had him, Jack,” Daniel pointed out.
“Oh, I thought you were talking about all of us as a whole. I’m pretty sure I get to continue. The rest of you…”
Renee bit her lip. “I do admit, he caught me off guard. Such power in those punches. Couldn’t see them well enough with my magic.” She rubbed her side. “I swear, it still hurts.”
“Phantom pain,” Flutterfree said. “Just try not to think about it.”
“You didn’t actually get a broken leg,” Renee muttered. “He went easy on you.”
“Yeah,” Flutterfree admitted. “He did…”
“AHEM!” Josuke called, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Jotaro’s ready to decide who moves on!”
“…moves on?” Tempest asked, confused.
“That was not the only round,” Josuke said, rubbing the back of his head. “The second one will decide who actually gets in.”
Jotaro nodded. “Four of you are out. Trixie, Rainbow Dash of Equis Vitis, Tempest, and Jade.”
“WHAT!?” Tempest blurted. “I did much better than most of these people! And Jade? Jade actually beat you!”
Jotaro folded his arms. “You fought with too much anger and aggression to be trusted. Jade clearly already has enough power within her. And as for the rest of you – Trixie did not fight with honor, but cowardice, while Rainbow Dash was simply too cocky and brash.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “But… But… But…”
“My decision is final,” Jotaro said. “You four are out. The remaining eight will move to the final ‘test’.”
Jade nodded. “I thank you for allowing us this chance, Mister Kujo.”
Jotaro nodded. “You had honor and strength, Jade, but your life has already given you all you need.”
Jade bowed in respect, then left the universe.
Trixie huffed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t need you anyway!” She opened a portal and left. Tempest did the same, but wordlessly.
Rainbow Dash walked over to Nova. “Well, guess I’m out.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, I think he’s a bit hard to please.”
“No kidding. I’ll be sitting with Pinkie, cheering you on.”
Jotaro called their attention again. “I will now ex-“
Jolyne tugged at her father’s pant leg.
“…Jolyne will now explain the rules of the next round.”
“All right!” Jolyne shouted, getting back on her rock. “Listen up! You eight will be fighting each other in a battle royale on this grassy arena right here! Josuke is on hand, so you can use almost any method besides instant death to subdue the enemy! When only one fighter is left standing, the round will be over, and the people who get their Stands will be decided! You’ve got ten minutes before we begin! Make sure to be at your marked areas by then!”
“What mark-“ Renee began, but suddenly there were eight markings in the grass that looked like fist imprints. “Uh…”
“Time stop sure is useful!” Pinkie called. “This is gonna be a great deathmatch!”
Renee turned to Daniel. “What say you, darling? Fight together?”
“Definitely,” Daniel said, twirling a zat gun – and then dropping it.
O’Neill raised an eyebrow. “Well if you two lovebirds make a team…” he grabbed Flutterfree. “We’ll be a team as well!”
“I can’t believe I’m still here,” Flutterfree said.
“You must have impressed them with something.”
“Mhm.” Flutterfree paused for a moment. “You know what? Yeah.” Her expression became much more competitive. “O’Neill, let’s pound these two into the dust!”
“Oh it! IS! ON!” Renee declared. “You do not know what kind of war you have declared! The power of love is at our backsides, and we shall use it to emerge victorious! It’ll be so romantic~!”
O’Neill facepalmed while Flutterfree giggled.
Renee narrowed her eyes. “We’re going to bring it, you two, don’t you dare think otherwise.”
O’Neill twirled his zat gun and didn’t drop it. “I wouldn’t dare underestimate a prissy white unicorn.”
“…I’m not sure if that’s an insult or not.”
“Assume yes,” Daniel suggested.
“Good. More motive to win. You two better bring your best!”
“We will!” O’Neill called.
Flutterfree smiled. “Right.”
~~~
As it turned out, three alicorns could ‘deal with it quickly.’ In this case, ‘it’ was a group of humans with a spaceship that decided, while drunk, that it would be a good idea to shoot whatever building they came across with their ‘slightly illegal’ weapons.
It just so happened that the building that looked the fanciest was the hotel-spa the royal alicorns of Equis Vitis were staying in.
The crew consisted of three men and two women, all of whom were armed to the teeth and dressed like raiders from a bad science fiction movie.
“What universe are they from?” Luna asked, examining the five humans they had tied up.
“Earth Vitis,” Eve mumbled. “They seem to have a higher concentration of these kinds of nutcases than Earth Tau’ri and Earth Stand. The current theory as to why is that they’re further along in the future, and apparently the further into the 2010s you get with an Earth the less rational the people become.” She gestured at the five of them. “They just want to look like cool raiders, so they do. And then they decide that acting like them is a good idea. Then they get drunk and get a little too into it and somehow acquire illegal weapons.”
“This happen often?” Celestia asked.
“Not really,” Eve admitted. “It just happens enough that it really draws attention to Earth Vitis.”
“Hey! You don’t get to shame us! Versist!” the leader of the group shouted, spitting on the ground.
Eve fixed him with a ‘seriously?’ look.
“Don’t you dare look down on me, you high and mighty bitch!”
“Right, can’t talk to these people,” Eve declared.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Celestia said, leaning in to the leader. “Sir, can you tell us why we’re being Versist and ‘high and mighty’?”
The man looked at her with rage. “You’re… You’re asking? What the hell is wrong with you? This is exactly what I’m talking about, you see?”
One of the girls piped up. “Yeah! What he said!”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I see that you’re angry. And it’s not at us – you’re angry at the world. Afraid as well, wanting to protect yourselves from the change however you can. I understand the feeling, believe me, but I also understand that acting on that inner desire is not-”
“Are you talking down to us?” another one of the men said. “Listen to the sun god! Oh, praise her for being so pristine and regal!”
Celestia shook her head. “You do not need to praise me. You do not even need to like me. You can hate me for all I care. I’m just here to help you.”
“Screw you and your help. It’s gotten us tied up.”
Celestia took on a sad smile. “You can be released – it’s not like anyone actually got hurt. You’re just confused, and you need some guidance.”
“Wait, hold up,” a second woman said. “Are you going to let us go?”
“Praise the sun!” one of the men declared. “It has come to save us!”
The leader who had been so rude before adjusted his expression. “I… I… We’re so sorry princess. Can you ever forgive us?”
“I can forgive you, easily. But you do need to understand that forgiveness is a gift, an-”
Eve grabbed Celestia by the wing. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Eve, I’m just-“
“I know, I need to talk to you now.” She dragged Celestia a few meters away.
“Eve, I was getting through to them!”
“No, you were being used.”
“Of course I know that, Evening,” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “They changed behavior far too quickly. But after I had given them the talk, they wouldn’t be able to forget it.”
“Celestia, things are very different out here. That works really well with ponies on Equestria, and with most ponies, but those kinds of people?” She gestured at the five tied up humans. “They’re not going to change their ways because a princess gave them a pep talk. I’ve met many of these kinds of humans, and they will do almost anything to keep from changing how they look at life, including lying to themselves and getting extremely angry. Human minds are not as malleable as pony ones, generally.”
Celestia blinked. “You’re certain of this?”
“Definitely, in this case. We do need to forgive them – but they can’t just be let off the hook. They need to be put in the system and watched. Fined at the very least for the damage they’ve done, and… Okay if I’m being honest here punishment doesn’t really help them change either, but at least it deters them from being stupid even more.” Eve sighed. “I’m sorry Celestia, but the idea of quick redemption doesn’t work that often out here, especially with the humans from Earth Vitis.”
“This… is somewhat depressing.”
“It’s not your fault, you rarely deal with these kinds of people. You’re separated from the politics of most Earths, seeing only our friends from those places. But you do need to learn. They’re a very stubborn race. You have to learn to make judgment calls.” She glanced over her shoulder. “It is possible that one of them could have changed after just one conversation. But if we want to change one of them, it takes forming a relationship with them over a long course of time. And we generally don’t have time to do that. So we have to make the best of the situation.”
Celestia nodded. “I understand. I am sorry I didn’t understand this.”
“It’s okay,” Eve said. “Ready to go back?”
“Sure.”
Eve trotted back to the prisoners. “Yes, you are forgiven.”
“Woohoo!”
“You’re still going to jail for possession of weapons illegal in Equis Cosmic without a license. And destruction of property.”
“Bullshit!” one of the women shouted. “She was going to-“
“Shush,” Luna said. “You’re going to be offered a deal.”
Eve nodded. “If you tell the authorities where you got the illegal weapons, and how you got them to this universe, your sentence will be significantly lessened. Understood?”
The leader nodded.
“Good. Law enforcement will take you away now.” She walked away, Celestia and Luna following her.
Luna stretched her wings. “Well, despite that, I still feel invigorated by the massage. Let’s go somewhere else though, I’m done with this place.”
Eve produced the dimensional device. “Where do you want to go?”
Celestia blinked. “Uh… You know best Eve, you decide.”
“I have no idea what else I want to do.”
“Gem Vein,” Luna said. “They’ve got some cool worlds. And judging by the Gem that just walked out of that portal, one of them is closely related to this planet. We could walk there right now.”
“Sure, why not. Give me a sec though.” Eve checked to make sure the connection was safe with a tiny portal before opening a larger one. The three of them stepped through to one of the Gem Vein’s fully developed worlds. Which was to say, they appeared on a crystalline platform off the edge of a building – above them, buildings rose into the sky, and below them, the gigantic geometric structures descended further than they could see. As far as the three alicorns were concerned, there was no surface to the planet.
They saw mostly Gems walking around in every color of the rainbow. Some gems were smaller than the alicorns, some larger – some looked at them with curiosity while others just continued about their day without giving them a second glance. Eve could see a few non-Gems around, presumably from the world they had just left. Pegasi were the easiest to see, but a human or two walked around like they belonged. Eve wondered if they had jobs – Gems were notoriously big on keeping things organized and within a ‘purpose’. They had little patience for those who didn’t have a place in society.
“Everything looks… very organized,” Celestia commented. “Mechanical, almost.”
“Gems are technically artificial lifeforms,” Eve commented. “They are made, not born, though I’m not exactly clear on the process behind making a Gem. They operate a lot like machines at times, while their internal magic makes them a bit more than that. They like every cog to be in its place. It’s a bit restrictive for my tastes, but it works for them.”
Celestia looked down at a group of Peridot-Gems walking in formation, talking about furthering magitech with unicorn power. One Peridot in the back looked really, really bored. “What if there is a Gem that doesn’t want to fit in the gears?”
“Ah,” Eve said, sighing. “They used to just shatter Gems that didn’t fit in.”
“…Used to?” Luna asked.
“That’s one of the good things about Unification. We can say we won’t allow such wanton disregard for life in a legal system for any race involved in the process. The Diamonds really want to be part of the multiversal unity, so they were willing to adjust. The punishment for not fitting in is ‘banishment’ most often, which just means they get shipped to the Hub or some other universe. I think it’s an elegant solution, frankly.”
Celestia furrowed her brow. “I- Of course, Eve, you know best.” She laughed nervously. “Should I not even be talking about these things here?”
Eve shook her head. “The Diamonds aren’t that totalitarian Celestia. Just don’t insult the Diamonds themselves and you’ll be fine.”
“Right, right. Of course.”
“…Are you okay?”
Celestia smiled. “I’m fine, Twilight. What can a pony do on a Gem world such as this?”
“They aren’t much for recreation, but they do have competitions we can watch,” Eve said.
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Combat training? This sounds interesting.”
“Which way?” Celestia asked, looking around. “Should we wave someone down?”
Eve pulled out the Guide. “I can just find it. You two just walk around, I’ll be right here.”
“Walk… Around?” Celestia said, blinking.
Luna smirked. “Come. Tia, let us watch these Gem women hustle about their city! Hurrah!”
“Do they want to be called women?” Celestia asked. “I’m not sure. They don’t actually have a gender, if I’m remembering what I read right. But ‘it’ sounds derogatory…”
“Every Gem I’ve come across is referred to as a ‘her’,” Luna said. “So it’s safe to make that assumption. Though it’s not like I’m an expert or anything.”
Celestia nodded slowly. “Right…”
"Heh. Look at that orange Gem down there. Can’t hold all those boxes. Why doesn’t she just use a hover lift? I know they have them.”
Celestia looked down at the Gem having such a hard time. Her mischievous inner nature forced a smile to her face. She had the sudden urge to use her magic to fix all the boxes in an instant, just to mess with the Gem, but she held herself back. What if that wasn’t accepted here? She didn’t know this culture. It was a whole other universe – nothing like Dragons, or Changelings. Even more alien than humans.
She shook her head and backed away from the edge.
“Tia? Are you doing okay?”
“I’m fine, Lu-“
“Found it!” Eve declared. “It’s three buildings that way! Ready for a bunch of teleports?”
“Are they okay with that?”
“Who cares?” Luna declared. “TO THE COMBAT ARENA!”
Celestia gulped, waiting to teleport until after Eve had teleported herself.
~~~
There were eight. Flutterfree, Renee, O’Neill, Daniel, the Rainbow Dash, Thor, Emerald, and the Earth Vitis Applejack all took positions in a close circle. All eight of them could see all seven of the others. The arena wasn’t exactly small, but it wasn’t going to be a long fight given how close everyone was.
Flutterfree turned to O’Neill – and he winked at her. She winked back.
Renee gave the two of them the playful death eyes. Daniel tried to as well, but he just didn’t have the face to sell it.
“Ready!” Josuke yelled, holding a gun in the air with Crazy Diamond. It just looked like it was floating to everyone.
“SET!” he called, and all eight people prepared for chaos.
Crazy Diamond fired the gun. “GO!”
The Rainbow Dash, Emerald, and Applejack charged into a fray with each other. Flutterfree noted that they weren’t going to be a problem for a while, so she focused on Daniel and Renee. She flew into the air, pulling back the string on her bow of light – only for Renee to tear it out of her hooves with her telekinesis.
“Sorry darling,” Renee said, drawing the string of the bow herself. “Nothing personal, you understand.”
O’Neill interrupted her use of the bow with fire from his assault rifle. Renee blocked it with a magic shield, but it did make her lose aim with the bow of light. Flutterfree dove in, reaching her hooves out for the bow, only to run right into another of Renee’s shields.
“Daniel, dear, shoot her!”
Daniel drew his zat gun and fired at Flutterfree. She flipped into the air, dodging the bolt of energy just barely. Daniel took the opportunity to get on Renee – she reared up, grinning. “Now we’ve got you.” Daniel fired multiple times, his fire accentuated by Renee’s crystalline magic.
Flutterfree hid behind O’Neill. “I need that bow to do anything!”
O’Neill ducked behind the rock Jolyne was always using, allowing it to absorb the impact. “I’m going to throw a grenade. You make use of the opportunity, okay?”
“Got it,” she said.
Renee chuckled to herself. “We have them now. Cornered behind a – GRENADE!” She shrieked, rearing onto her hind hooves in panic. This made Daniel fall off, causing Renee’s attempt to flee to fail – she was not used to being a mount.
The grenade exploded right next to them.
Flutterfree had been going for her bow, but the moment she saw the grenade explode much closer to the two of them she shrieked. “Renee! Daniel!”
“Crap,” O’Neill muttered, leaving his cover and running for the two of them. He had seen limbs go flying.
Futterfree held Renee’s hoof – which felt lifeless.
“JOSUKE! GET OVER HERE NOW!” O’Neill shouted, checking Daniel. “That was just a distraction shot, what the hell?!”
Josuke touched both Daniel and Renee with Crazy Diamond, returning them to the world of the healthy in an instant. “Calm down you two,” he told Flutterfree and O’Neill. “They’re fine and they were always going to be fine.”
Flutterfree grabbed her chest. “I… I… I just saw Renee’s leg go over there and I panicked and I couldn’t think and…”
O’Neill grabbed the bridge of his nose. “I thought… It might have been a bit much. It was…”
“…Just supposed to be a distraction?” Daniel suggested.
“Yeah,” O’Neill said. “That. You weren’t even supposed to feel anything more than a rush of air from it.”
Josuke shook his head at the two of them. “You two aren’t out yet. The fight’s still going.”
Flutterfree looked up to see the Rainbow Dash coming at them, full speed. She dodged out of the way – but O’Neill didn’t. He fell to the ground, out cold.
Flutterfree picked up the bow of light and aimed. The Rainbow Dash thought she couldn’t fire fast enough – she was wrong. The arrow sailed true and hit the Rainbow Dash right in the mechanical wing, breaking it again. She fell to the ground, out.
Flutterfree lowered the bow and looked around. Emerald’s gem was on the ground, Applejack was being healed by Josuke and taken off the field… Was she the last one standing?
Then she felt an energy weapon hit her in the back of the head. She fell to the ground, out.
She came to only a moment later, realizing Thor was standing over her. “Oh. I… I kind of forgot about you.”
Thor nodded, extending a gray hand to her. “My race is small and diminutive, easy to miss. I just took advantage of this and waited for the fighting to be over before making a move.”
“Clever Thor, as always,” O’Neill said, sitting up. “Ow, my back…”
“Your back is fine.” Josuke called.
“I’m old. It was hurting beforehand.”
“You? Old? Spend time with Joseph. Then you can learn what old means.”
“SPEAK OF THE DEVIL AND HE SHALL APPEAR!” Pinkie called, pointing to a car that had just pulled up to Joestar Central. Joseph Joestar came out of the passenger side, cane in hand.
“Ah, old man,” Jotaro said. “How was spaceship flying?”
“Crashed it,” Joseph said. “To the surprise of everyone but me.” He laughed bitterly.
“Aw…” Pinkie said, hopping up to him. “That’s sad. Here, have a consolation cupcake!”
Joseph smirked and took it. “I heard you also knew the art of pulling things out of nowhere.”
“Yeah!” she produced her party cannon. “What kinds of stuff can you do?”
“In my prime I got an airplane from nowhere,” Joseph said, grinning. “That was fun. That was also an airplane I crashed. Into a volcano. Ah, memories…”
Flutterfree glanced at Jotaro. “Is he…?”
“His mind is fine right now. All that really happened.” He rolled his shoulders. “Old man, you’ve come at a good time. I’ve selected four new Stand users.”
“Oh? This should be interesting.”
Flutterfree held her breath – had she been selected? She made it to second to last, but she knew from last time that Jotaro wasn’t deciding based just on performance.
“First, Thor, you’ve proven yourself to be level headed and intelligent, even under extreme stress. You remain reasonable at all times.” Jotaro tossed the small gray alien a pill. “You also won, so that just adds to your merit.”
“This gift humbles me,” Thor said, downing the pill. “What results should I expect?”
“You should be able to summon your Stand after only a few seconds – but it does sometimes take a few days for a user to figure out how to summon their Stand. If you can’t make it appear just by willing, don’t overstrain yourself.”
Thor nodded. “I am starting to see more… I assume the pink being next to Josuke is Crazy Diamond?”
“Yes. And this is Star Platinum.”
“Impressive.”
Flutterfree sighed. “Still can’t see them.”
Jotaro moved to the Rainbow Dash next. “Rainbow… Dash. Do you have an alternate name?”
“Razor Will of Lai,” she said. “About time you asked.”
Jotaro tossed her a pill as well. “You show determination, an awareness of your own limits, and a deep loyalty. You’ve earned this.”
“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “She gets one?!”
Joseph shrugged. “This may also be an apology for us using her as bait with Toph’s group.”
Jotaro grabbed his hat. “Yare yare daze…” he turned to O’Neill. “You are clever, plucky, and while you ramble a bit you deserve that title of General you hold. You also show concern for others, and perhaps the strongest warrior spirit here.” He tossed him a pill. “I was going to give this to someone else since you were getting too invested in a competition, but you overcame that.”
O’Neill swallowed his pill. “Thanks.” Unlike Thor and Razor, who had yet to summon their Stands, O’Neill’s came forth almost instantly. Flutterfree only knew because of his reaction. “My Stand... is a piece of sushi?”
“Looks like a fish to me!” Jolyne called. “A nice red fish!”
“It’s sushi,” O’Neill said. “…Sushi. Nice name.”
“Stand names usually have a bit more than that,” Josuke called.
“Is there some rule to them?”
“We used to name them out of tarot cards,” Jotaro said. “We ran out. We sometimes add colors, but only if you want.”
O’Neill examined his Stand. “…Crimson Sushi. That’s your name. What does he do?”
“I have no idea,” Jotaro said. “That’s for you to figure out.”
He then turned to the last one he accepted – Flutterfree. Flutterfree’s eyes widened. “…Really?”
“Yes. You are the kindest person I have ever seen. Normally I would consider that a weakness, but you showed today how it drives you to fight, even though you have almost no powers to your name.” He tossed her the pill. “You deserve this probably more than anyone else here.”
Renee sighed. “Well, Daniel, looks like we lost.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Mind telling us why, Jotaro?”
“You became obsessed with the competition,” Jotaro explained. “In addition, Daniel, you don’t really have the spirit of a warrior, and Renee, I believe you already have enough of an edge.”
Renee bowed. “Of course. It is your decision, after all.”
“Regretting giving Eve one?” Daniel asked.
Jotaro looked into the distance. He didn’t answer.
Flutterfree downed the pill. She felt its weirdness swim into her almost instantly. The first thing she felt change were her eyes. She could see what she couldn’t before. Crazy Diamond was the easiest – the pink and gray humanoid was still out, holding Emerald’s gemstone, slowly realizing that it couldn’t force Emerald to reconstitute her body. Flutterfree was overcome by the strange shapes of the humanoid – it seemed to have mechanical pipes on the back of its neck, a strange heart design on the top of its head, and… Well it just looked alien.
She saw Star Platinum for a moment – still alien, though not as odd. A heavily muscular man with strange, flowing hair and an angled face. Its fists had metal balls on their ends, and its pink and blue skin had simple designs made of squares on them. The Stand wore a loincloth that Flutterfree presumed was actually a part of its body.
Flutterfree caught a glimpse of Hermit Purple – just a bunch of purple thorny vines that extended from Joseph’s hands, currently being used to mess with Pinkie’s tail. Jolyne’s Stand – Stone Free? Was that the name? – was a blue being made of strings which had currently made a jump rope for the girl that she was enjoying tremendously. Stone Free was only as large as Jolyne herself, just like how Star Platinum was the size of Jotaro.
And then there was O’Neill’s new stand – Crimson Sushi. It looked like a deep, red fish about half the size of O’Neill, with three fins instead of just two. It had two, deep, black eyes with no pupils, and a third eye floating away from its forehead a couple inches. The third eye seemed to both burn and freeze at the same time. She felt like it was staring right at her, even though it was looking more in Jotaro’s direction.
Then Flutterfree’s Stand activated without her even trying. She felt it course through her body – thousands of tiny wires spiraling through her muscles. She felt her face shift in structure slightly as the Stand revealed itself. Her stomach did a flip-flop, feeling strangely hungry all of the sudden.
Then the Stand itself appeared in front of her – green lines traced out from her wingtips, forming mathematical patterns similar to the kind she had seen on math chalkboards in the school of friendship. Circles upon circles came together, forming a pinkish-purple flower shape in front of her. Mathematically speaking, the lines were forming a spirograph shape, but Flutterfree couldn’t help but see anything besides a flower. A lotus made from math…
“Lotus Locus,” she said, the name just coming to her suddenly. “This is Lotus Locus. Or Lolo for short.”
She then realized everyone was staring at her. “What?” she said, confused.
Jotaro leaned down to look at her. “Your Stand… It activated its effect.” He pointed at Thor and Razor – both of their Stands had apparently been forced to reveal themselves. Razor’s was a pegasus made entirely out of metal and wires, while Thor’s was a series of three glowing spheres that constantly orbited around each other. “Everyone can see those. Not just us Stand users.”
Flutterfree looked around. “Oh, so... So mine reveals what is hidden?”
“In more ways than one, dear,” Renee said, producing a mirror. Flutterfree looked into it – and was startled. It was definitely her face that looked back, but it wasn’t quite the one she had woken up to this morning. Her eyes were now red, her ears slightly pointed, and her mouth had fangs.
She checked her wings – still normal pegasus wings. But her face… It was almost like when she had been a vampire pony in the fruitbat incident, long before they had found the multiverse… Hadn’t Eve said that that spell had never completely gone away?
Flutterfree looked at the spirograph form of Lolo. “You… Awakened this?”
Lolo couldn’t speak or think on its own; it just shifted, extending its green neon lines in vaguely vine-like patterns around itself.
“I… I’m not sure how I feel about this,” Flutterfree said. “Besides hungry.”
Applejack the human tossed her an apple. Flutterfree caught it in her mouth – as if by instinct – and drained it of all its juices. “Thanks. You know, that didn’t feel very weird at all, actually…” She stretched her wings.
“So… You’re a vampire?” Jotaro asked.
“Of sorts,” Flutterfree said. “Though I mostly hunger for fruit instead of blood. Though I wouldn’t put it past these teeth to devour flesh…”
Joseph put a hand on Jotaro’s shoulder. “Easy. She’s clearly not like our vampires.”
Jotaro nodded slowly. “I can see that.”
“You had a run-in with vampires?” O’Neill said.
“The biggest enemy of the Joestar family was a vampire by the name of Dio,” Joseph explained. “He’s caused more than a few problems for us, even after he was killed.”
Flutterfree nodded. “I promise not to devour any of your flesh or cause your family any trouble. I do want to know what Lolo can do… And I think everyone else here wants to know what their new Stands can do as well.”
Jotaro nodded. “I’m uncertain, since most Stands are unique, but from what I’ve seen Lolo looks to be a utility stand, like Hermit Purple, rather than combat oriented.” He glanced around. “Its ability appears to be a sort of Revelation, the uncovering of what is hidden, unlocking the potential within. I have no doubt that you’ve received a significant boost now that your ‘vampire’ nature has been brought forth.”
“Alushy is never going to give you a break,” O’Neill said.
“No, no she isn’t…” Flutterfree said. “Can I turn it off?”
Jotaro shrugged. “Try recalling your Stand.”
Flutterfree wished Lolo to vanish, and the expansive patterns of waves and spirals retreated into Flutterfree’s body. Not much looked different to Flutterfree.
Renee raised her hoof. “I can’t see the Stands anymore.”
Flutterfree glanced at the mirror. “But I’m still a vampire.” She checked her teeth in the mirror. “Odd.”
“Wait,” Joseph said. “I thought vampires didn’t have reflections? …Your next line will be ‘different vampires do different things’.”
“Different vampires do different things.” O’Neill said. “Wait, what? How’d you do that?”
Joseph grinned mischievously. “I’ll never tell.”
Flutterfree looked at herself in the levitating mirror – and smiled.
She decided she was going to make the most of this. She now had a power, something new, something not to be afraid of. She would use it to bring kindness to the multiverse. She would use it to help her friends on her quests.
She would find the potential in everyone she came across.
It was at this point the mirror disappeared, replaced with Renee. “Uh…”
“Just figured out what Crimson Sushi does!” O’Neill declared. “Try touching Renee.”
Flutterfree blinked, sticking out her hoof. It went right through Renee - hitting the mirror. “Oh. You change the visual locations of objects?”
“Looks like it!”
“AUGH! This rock wasn’t there before!” Rainbow Dash shouted, holding her hoof in pain.
“Yes it was,” O’Neill said, chuckling. “I’ve been given too much power…”
Flutterfree activated Lolo fully, removing all of O’Neill’s illusions. He had already scrambled the locations of everyone in the field just for fun, evidentially. “Good thing I’m here to keep you in check.”
O’Neill smirked.
~~~
A Jasper kicked a white Quartz in the face, poofing their body and letting their gemstone drop to the ground. She raised her fists in victory.
Celestia started clapping – but quickly realized that the other Gems watching weren’t. She lowered her hooves instantly. “Do we… clap?”
“Clap if you want to,” Eve said. “You’re here to enjoy yourself after all.”
“But is it acceptable?”
Eve bit her lip. “Well, I wouldn’t say it is, but the Gems are pretty official about this. Go ahead and show your difference.”
“S-show my difference?”
“Yeah! Do what you want.” Eve looked around nervously. “You’re Celestia!”
“But, I’m supposed to follow you since you know more.”
“Follow me? You? D-don’t be ridiculo-“
“For the love of my Moon…” Luna grunted, producing a dimensional device and taking them to another universe. She dragged all of them in and closed the portal behind them. They found themselves on a planet where a man was making sandwiches.
“…This is new,” he said. “Name’s Arthur. Arthur Den-“
“Yeah, nice to meet you Arthur, give us a moment we’re going to have a heart-to-heart,” Luna said. She turned to Eve and Celestia. “You two.”
“I’m sorry I don’t know how to act out here!” Celestia decreed. “I jus-“
“Stop that. Stop that now. You do know how to act. You are Celestia, princess of the Sun and ruler of Equestria. You just let Twilight get into your head – she corrected you once, because you needed it, and suddenly you thought you needed to follow her in everything. And Eve-“
“What did I do?”
“You didn’t notice what was up with Celestia, and then you felt nervous about telling her what she needed to do because she still has an air of authority in your mind. You felt bad about telling her off.” Luna cleared her throat. “Let me make one thing clear. Neither of you two are the teacher of the other anymore. You. Are. Friends. You might even be family of some kind. But you’re not mentor-student, not at all.” Luna let out a deep sigh.
Celestia blinked. “…You’ve been holding that in for a while, haven’t you?”
“NO, REALLY?” Luna blurted. “You have no idea how long I’ve seen you two doing this. I thought you’d resolve it yourselves and we could just enjoy ourselves today, but no. Looks like I have to do it.”
Eve blinked. “Well… This has been illuminating. I… I’m sorry. I’m just not sure if I can move past Celestia being my teacher that quickly…”
“It’s been years,” Luna declared. “Make an effort. You were doing well at the philosophy discussion, as much as it annoyed me. I saw what you two needed to be right there. You had it. And… Well it worked.” Luna rubbed her head. “Clearly, I am not a master of emotions or the mind, as this little rant should make obvious, but I hope my point is getting across.”
“Loud and clear,” Celestia said. “…Luna, what do you suggest we do to get past this?”
Luna shrugged. “I don’t know. Go on a vacation and actually relax? Instead of getting nervous about everything?”
Eve lit up. “Equestria. Let’s go to Equestria to take our vacation. Ponyville is the perfect mix of Celestia’s and my domains. We could go to the Pinkie Emporium!”
“That sounds wonderful!” Celestia declared.
“And do you two promise to not worry about how the other thinks?” Luna asked.
Eve and Celestia gave her uncertain looks.
“…I’ll take that as a ‘we’ll try’. Good enough.” She turned back to Arthur. “Sorry about this.”
Arthur shrugged. “Not the weirdest thing that’s happened. Would you like to stay for lunch? I can make sandwiches. I’m really good at it.”
Luna smirked. “Yeah. Yeah we can stay for lunch. How many sandwiches do you all want?”
“Forty-two,” Celestia answered.
Luna blinked. “Why forty-two?”
“I have no idea, actually, it just seems like an appropriately absurd number.”
“Fine then. Forty-two sandwiches,” Luna declared. “Can you do that?”
Arthur was staring at them almost like he’d seen a ghost. “…Coming right up.” He set to work.
Eve blinked. “I wonder what his story is.”
“Probably something either very interesting or very boring,” Celestia answered.
~~~
In the Hub, there was a small building that housed a single man by the name of Ford Prefect. This man was the self-proclaimed genius behind The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Multiverse. He was drinking a cup of coffee, examining his ‘reader-submitted requests’.
Back in the day, he had been a single editor for a Guide of a single universe. But now, here he was, the man in charge of a Guide for an entire multiverse. And the best thing? It was self-correcting. Any time there was a clear error, there would be an angry email sent directly to Ford, and he would edit the Guide instantly.
He loved the message Eve set – so many vast corrections on so many articles she just read and submitted her thoughts on. He could write entirely new articles based completely on her rants! It was glorious!
Plus, he could also say that ‘the Guide brings even Princesses closer together’ based on the story she had relayed. She was just trying to congratulate him on a successful book that did some good, but he was going to milk that for everything it was worth.
Oh, and her direct assertion that “Don’t Panic” was definitely a good piece of advice for every explorer wasn’t bad either.
Life was good.
Another email popped up from one of his sources that totally-wasn’t-Sombra but he-totally-knew-was-Sombra. It was about Flutterfree and vampirism on Earth Stand…
That’d be interesting.
He’d probably write this one himself, rather than handing it off to some secondary writer like usual.
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As it turned out, three alicorns could‘deal with it quickly.’
‘Heh. Look at that orange Gem down there. Can’t hold all those boxes. Why doesn’t she just use a hover lift? I know they have them.”
1. Forgot your spacing.
2. Meant to be a opening quotation mark.
Ahh Arthur, never a long dull moment in your life eh? Let's hope you have a house made out of malleable towels.
The truth hurts.
In any case, fantastic little character arc for Eve and Celestia. It's a big multiverse out there, and Sunbutt Sr. doesn't deal well with not knowing what to do.
Also, very interesting to see how dramatic trends do and don't carry over between universes, whether it's Earth Stand making talking a free action or humans being human no matter where they are. (No wonder magic abuse happens so often in that worldline...) As for the new Stands, Fluttershy's should prove especially interesting. That floating Sburb logo will likely come in very handy. (I'm a bit surprised you didn't name it Lotus Lattice, but O'Neill already demonstrated that song references aren't a must.)
As a side note, that Smoky Quartz says a lot about the changes in Gem Vein. Not only did they unbubble the Rose Quartzes, they're apparently allowing heterogenous fusions.
And then there was the inclusion of exactly what I was hoping for in the forty-second chapter. Brilliant work.
8984901
FRIIIIIICK I GOOFED. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *deep breath* AAAAAAAAAAA
I think I'll change that to a 'generic Quartz' instead. Bah. No they are not allowing heterogenous fusions, and that's actually a PLOT POINT LATER.
GAH.
EDIT: fixed to just say "white Quartz."
-GM, master of WELL I DONE GOOFED.
So in regards to the Gem universe where in the timeline do they currently fall? Is it before earth, after they abandoned earth, before Steven was born?
I realize it might not be relevant to the plot I'm just curious.
8985218
Those questions will be answered in the chapter of this ARC titled "Roses."
-GM, master of previews.
Of course Flutterfree got a stand. Jotaro's tests were about testing character, and no one has strength of character like Flutters. Locus fits her well, even before the vampire stuff comes in. I also like how it's the opposite of O'Neil's power. Makes me think we're going to be getting more of those two together in the future.
It was good to see the OG Celestia in a prominent role, and the lesson the princesses learned made sense. Their relationship has to move forward at some point, and it's already been years since show canon at this point. Heck, even the show has to be a couple of years past Twilight getting her wings. This also opens things up for you to use Celestia more, which is just great! She is the best princess, after all.
Celestia's paranoia makes perfect sense too. She's spent thousands of years desling with ponies and Equestria. While she's more willing to attempt adaptability than other long lived races - such as most fantasy elves -, she has basically no clue how to go about it. It makes sense she'd try to follow Eve's lead, even if she should just do what comes naturally. After all, what the hell could the Diamonds going to do to her, let alone normal gems?
This was a good chapter that integrated Earth Stand more into the greater multiverse with fun character moments. The Hitchhiker's cameos were great too when I'd caught on. I knew I'd recognized the name Arthur Dent, but couldn't remember where from until Celestia said '42.' Probably should have been more obvious, considering the chapter started with an actual mention of the Hitchhiker's Guide.
Are the Cutie Mark Creeps ever going to show up to save the Element of Insanity?
8990799
They may be referenced at some point, but at the moment there are no plans to include them. They would have made the original Elements of Insanity Chapter too cluttered and there hasn't really been an overwhelming reason to include them sense. Assume Saxton Hale took care of them in one way or another.
-GM, master of Posts.
Oh dear, would you believe that until I read these comments, I didn't realize that HHGttG was referenced in chapter #42 ...
I did not see a towel reference though.
Incorrect! The first airplane Joseph crashed was the one that got hijacked with speedwagon in it.
Is this a reference to something?
10349934
Arthur Dent, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
This chapter is filled with such references.
-GM, master of 042.
The real answer:
i.pinimg.com/originals/b1/ec/95/b1ec95b7eaa3f07d2b8d93133363fbb6.jpg
Currently reading this on Ao3 and coming here to read comments, thought I'd mention that when you corrected the Smoky Quartz in this chapter to White Quartz, you didn't do the same on Ao3.